closed West Ham 3-2 Chelsea

[Superblue 6,372]

It says a lot about the centre backs this season that in my opinion if Cahill had stayed another season he would have ended up first choice.

I'm most disappointed with Rudiger. We really needed him to step up this season as the leader of the defence and senior player in that central defence. He's gone backwards.

I'm still not sold on either of Zouma and Christensen as both have glaring and major weaknesses. Tomori is still very raw, although I think with a leader alongside him he's the best hope.

[Laylabelle 9,535]

2 minutes ago, Pizy said:

I think the best we can hope for now is 4th when I look at our run in. United will finish 3rd.

It's an all out battle between ourselves, Wolves, Leicester for 4th. Maybe even Arse and Spuds who are both suddenly picking up wins. We have the worst defense out of all of them so you can't say we're favorites.

if we get dragged into a huge race when we were merrily going along be pissed off. Dont mind Wolves..Man U but the rest. No thank you!!

Definitely Man U will come out top. Theyve gelled unfortunately. Havent lost in a while and dont look like they will

If comes down to goal difference also..we are screwed but don't think be that.

[USATim 20]

Guys, from a Yanks perspective,  it is quite simple - our centerbacks suck, we have no left back, and our right back is a midget. FL screws with his lineup way too much. And having your best player,  Pulisic,  playing in tight in the first half with a player who doesn't move off the ball worth a crap in Abraham is beyond my realm of comprehension. No more attacking players! We need defense. Oh, yeah. Our goalie sucks.

[Supermonkey92 1,428]

Big shout out to Mount though. Great urgency and precise passing FORWARDS. Good link up with pulisic but trusts alonso too much lol.

I think playing as an 8 suits him better than as a ten in a 4231.

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[DDA 9,941]

Just now, Tomo said:

While i'm not atall defending the defense the wastefulness in attack is probably an even bigger problem.

 How many times this season have we dominated games without winning? As shown against Everton and Liverpool we can work with this defense with crucial adjustments infront.

This defence needs a new leader. Christensen isn't a leader and Rudiger is a shocking defender.

We have dominated games but what is the patter of play here? Soo predictable. West Ham shut us out in open play today and it wasn't even hard. 

Yes we need to score more but our defence is a HUGE problem. 

[LAM09 7,056]

Why does Lampard keep persisting on Kante as the lone DM?
Where the fuck was he for that?

What's Rudiger doing letting a left footed player cut onto his left foot?

Multiple people to blame. I mentioned it before, but we constantly seem to find ourselves overcommitting when we have corners.

[Jase 43,479]

Lampard's obsession with Kante is becoming unbearable. I can understand the need to play him as the lone defensive midfielder in front of the back 4 against Man City because of our counter attacking game plan. But fucking hell, against teams like Villa and West Ham, playing him there is so useless. It hurts our ability to play out from the back, Kante always takes the safe passing option - sideways and backwards - and it is making my eyes bleed. That in turn also places the onus on Christensen and Rudiger to play attacking passes from the back and just like Kante, they are making my eyes bleed and driving me mad. They are so inconsistent and unadventurous with their passing. Furthermore, it is not like Kante has been 100% perfect in the defensive side of things in this DM role in all of the games so far that you can afford to overlook his lack of attacking capabilities. Not even close. 

The defending tonight throughout the game, be it in open play or in set piece situations was diabolical, and while we can blame the defenders and keeper, I feel like we need to address the biggest elephant in the room here - Lampard. Defending set pieces was already a problem for him at Derby and now it is a problem here again. Why? What is he and the coaches doing in training? Why do we look like conceding in every set piece situation? Plus, I don't know what's the latest numbers now but his sides have conceded far too many goals and kept too little clean sheets. The defenders are shit and the keeper is shit, yes, but I feel like there has been a negligence from Lampard when it comes to defending. He has talked so much about wanting to close the gap on Liverpool and Man City and yet, we continue to look so porous under him. Imagine trying to close the gap on the top two when we are conceding stupid goals every week and have even conceded more than Arsenal this season (ARSENAL!). 

[Laylabelle 9,535]

2 minutes ago, DDA said:

This defence needs a new leader. Christensen isn't a leader and Rudiger is a shocking defender.

We have dominated games but what is the patter of play here? Soo predictable. West Ham shut us out in open play today and it wasn't even hard. 

Yes we need to score more but our defence is a HUGE problem. 

They just look all over the place.

Let's defend a set piece...by going in any direction. We used to be so solid. Okay different players but now its a mess.

I'm still not over Arsenal that time scoring from our corner! Sums it up

[DDA 9,941]

1 minute ago, Laylabelle said:

They just look all over the place.

Let's defend a set piece...by going in any direction. We used to be so solid. Okay different players but now its a mess.

I'm still not over Arsenal that time scoring from our corner! Sums it up

Why isn't Zouma being played in every game? 

[Laylabelle 9,535]

1 minute ago, DDA said:

Why isn't Zouma being played in every game? 

And why do they not practise these things..we could've lost 4-2.. 

Just so annoying.

[Pizy 18,918]

Rudiger is such a gutting disappointment. I honestly thought he was one of the best CB's in the league before he got that big injury pre EL final. He had all the physical tools and ability on the ball to be our JT successor.

He has regressed massively this season and regularly commits David Luiz esque errors and gets whipped for pace which never used to happen.

[chelsea_4_eva 1,182]

I always thought that rudiger will never be charismatic enough to lead the defence same as azpi. Rudiger strikes me as the crazy, unfocused but willing to put his body on the line for the group whereas azpi is the quiet, loyal one, neither have leadership traits. We need a CB who has those qualities like van dijk and de ligt who is still young but you can see it. I guess we have been spoilt by Terry all these years.

[Jase 43,479]

14 minutes ago, Jason said:

Lampard's obsession with Kante is becoming unbearable. I can understand the need to play him as the lone defensive midfielder in front of the back 4 against Man City because of our counter attacking game plan. But fucking hell, against teams like Villa and West Ham, playing him there is so useless. It hurts our ability to play out from the back, Kante always takes the safe passing option - sideways and backwards - and it is making my eyes bleed. That in turn also places the onus on Christensen and Rudiger to play attacking passes from the back and just like Kante, they are making my eyes bleed and driving me mad. They are so inconsistent and unadventurous with their passing. Furthermore, it is not like Kante has been 100% perfect in the defensive side of things in this DM role in all of the games so far that you can afford to overlook his lack of attacking capabilities. Not even close. 

The defending tonight throughout the game, be it in open play or in set piece situations was diabolical, and while we can blame the defenders and keeper, I feel like we need to address the biggest elephant in the room here - Lampard. Defending set pieces was already a problem for him at Derby and now it is a problem here again. Why? What is he and the coaches doing in training? Why do we look like conceding in every set piece situation? Plus, I don't know what's the latest numbers now but his sides have conceded far too many goals and kept too little clean sheets. The defenders are shit and the keeper is shit, yes, but I feel like there has been a negligence from Lampard when it comes to defending. He has talked so much about wanting to close the gap on Liverpool and Man City and yet, we continue to look so porous under him. Imagine trying to close the gap on the top two when we are conceding stupid goals every week and have even conceded more than Arsenal this season (ARSENAL!). 

Also, while the continuous hopeless defending has definitely and deservedly taken the spotlight but is anyone feeling unimpressed by our attacking play recently or at least against the smaller, defensive sides? I know those teams defend in numbers and don't make it easy but all I have seen us mostly doing is getting the ball out wide, crossing it in and hoping someone converts it. To make things worse, Alonso or Azpi never varies their crosses. It's always the same kind of crosses! It's so unimaginative, boring and dare I say, Sam Allardyce/Tony Pulis-esque football. Where is the imaginative play? Where is the quick 1-2s around the box? Where is the pass and move, pass and move? Where is the overlapping play? Why are players not trying to take players on more often, dribble past people? Imagine playing Werner up front next season - a 180cm striker - and we keep putting crosses in for him! It's bad and dull. 

[killer1257 3,282]

Rudiger is such a gutting disappointment. I honestly thought he was one of the best CB's in the league before he got that big injury pre EL final. He had all the physical tools and ability on the ball to be our JT successor.
He has regressed massively this season and regularly commits David Luiz esque errors and gets whipped for pace which never used to happen.

He was never that good. Just watch how he defended the goals we conceded. There is a reason why most Germans do not rate Rüdiger

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[Pizy 18,918]

We need to go out and get an on-pitch general of a CB. A proper captain.

VVD instantly became their general who organizes the whole team. Maguire became captain of United as soon as he came in and they keep clean sheet after clean sheet.

We need a commanding, beast of a CB or we will be like Wenger's Arsenal or Rodgers's Liverpool next season scoring for fun but also conceding for fun. And you can't win the title doing that.

[OneMoSalah 8,886]

21 minutes ago, Jason said:

Lampard's obsession with Kante is becoming unbearable. I can understand the need to play him as the lone defensive midfielder in front of the back 4 against Man City because of our counter attacking game plan. But fucking hell, against teams like Villa and West Ham, playing him there is so useless. It hurts our ability to play out from the back, Kante always takes the safe passing option - sideways and backwards - and it is making my eyes bleed. That in turn also places the onus on Christensen and Rudiger to play attacking passes from the back and just like Kante, they are making my eyes bleed and driving me mad. They are so inconsistent and unadventurous with their passing. Furthermore, it is not like Kante has been 100% perfect in the defensive side of things in this DM role in all of the games so far that you can afford to overlook his lack of attacking capabilities. Not even close. 

The defending tonight throughout the game, be it in open play or in set piece situations was diabolical, and while we can blame the defenders and keeper, I feel like we need to address the biggest elephant in the room here - Lampard. Defending set pieces was already a problem for him at Derby and now it is a problem here again. Why? What is he and the coaches doing in training? Why do we look like conceding in every set piece situation? Plus, I don't know what's the latest numbers now but his sides have conceded far too many goals and kept too little clean sheets. The defenders are shit and the keeper is shit, yes, but I feel like there has been a negligence from Lampard when it comes to defending. He has talked so much about wanting to close the gap on Liverpool and Man City and yet, we continue to look so porous under him. Imagine trying to close the gap on the top two when we are conceding stupid goals every week and have even conceded more than Arsenal this season (ARSENAL!). 

Excellent post. 

Regarding Kante as a 6 which was heavily mentioned last season under Sarri for nearly the first 2 months of the season. Looking back on Kantes time here bar against Man City last week, I cannot remember any other games in which he has played this role except when Conte tried him there before going 343. I get the impression he is better playing with Jorginho, playing on the right of a 3 or even in a 2 as he isnt just fixed to that position and he can get up and down the pitch, while there is someone there who can take the ball from the CBs and play the passes to get us through a press or organised team. So tonight, I dont understand FL not playing Jorginho, I mean we had 73% possession or something but only scored through a penalty and freekick. He moves the ball forward more and quicker which takes the burden off the CBs to be more adventurous with the ball. 

We have also went from having the 3rd best defensive record in the league last season with Sarri to whatever we are now.... conceding more than Arsenal... and lets consider thats with the same defensive players bar David Luiz. The defending from set plays have been worse than last season 100% as well. Maybe with a CB and a LB we will improve defensively but there is an aspect of in game management and coaching that has to be considered here as well. Because these arent blips that happen irregularly, that can only be put down to individual mistakes, its been happening since the season began. 

[SUNZ 155]

18 minutes ago, Pizy said:

Rudiger is such a gutting disappointment. I honestly thought he was one of the best CB's in the league before he got that big injury pre EL final. He had all the physical tools and ability on the ball to be our JT successor.

He has regressed massively this season and regularly commits David Luiz esque errors and gets whipped for pace which never used to happen.

He really, really hasn't regressed at all. He has always been this poor.

[Pizy 18,918]

2 minutes ago, SUNZ said:

He really, really hasn't regressed at all. He has always been this poor.

Just not true. He was awesome when he first came here and was one of my favorite Chelsea players. He was a beast.

Not until this season has he started repeatedly making schoolboy errors.

[SUNZ 155]

Just now, Pizy said:

Just not true. He was awesome when he first came here and was one of my favorite Chelsea players. He was a beast.

Not until this season has he started repeatedly making schoolboy errors.

We will have to agree to disagree.

He simply cannot defend and is arguably our worst CB.

[Jase 43,479]

15 minutes ago, OneMoSalah said:

Excellent post. 

Regarding Kante as a 6 which was heavily mentioned last season under Sarri for nearly the first 2 months of the season. Looking back on Kantes time here bar against Man City last week, I cannot remember any other games in which he has played this role except when Conte tried him there before going 343. I get the impression he is better playing with Jorginho, playing on the right of a 3 or even in a 2 as he isnt just fixed to that position and he can get up and down the pitch, while there is someone there who can take the ball from the CBs and play the passes to get us through a press or organised team. So tonight, I dont understand FL not playing Jorginho, I mean we had 73% possession or something but only scored through a penalty and freekick. He moves the ball forward more and quicker which takes the burden off the CBs to be more adventurous with the ball. 

We have also went from having the 3rd best defensive record in the league last season with Sarri to whatever we are now.... conceding more than Arsenal... and lets consider thats with the same defensive players bar David Luiz. The defending from set plays have been worse than last season 100% as well. Maybe with a CB and a LB we will improve defensively but there is an aspect of in game management and coaching that has to be considered here as well. Because these arent blips that happen irregularly, that can only be put down to individual mistakes, its been happening since the season began. 

Honestly, I do not know what Lampard is trying to do with the midfield anymore. He stuck with the same midfield setup that we played Sarri and I thought okay, maybe he has the same idea as Sarri and/or wants to retain that continuity. But now? He's flipped that midfield around and it has probably become worse and all because he's trying to fit Kante in somehow.  It also doesn't seem to help that we have too many options and Lampard is constantly changing the players around. Has anyone nicknamed him The Tinkerer yet?